wee mee

i love joe strummer

I always forget how much I love everything he ever created. Somehow listening to his tunes the past couple of days has been saving my sanity at work, which is still quite weird.

Johnny Appleseed is the one with the most "juice" right now. Brings out that kick-ass confident eight-year-old in me.

But I also appreciate his ability with language (poetry!), his humble attitude, his sense of humor.

Check out these lyrics, for example, off the Global A-Go Go album:

Bhindi Bhagee

Well, I was walking down the High Road
And this guy stops me
He'd just got in from New ZealandAnd he was looking for mushy peas
I said, no, we hadn't really got 'em round here
I said, but we do gotBalti, Bhindi, strictly HindiDall, Halal
and I'm walking down the road
We got rocksoul, okra, bombay duck-ra
Shrimp beansprout, comes with it or without - with it or without
Bagels soft or simply harder
Exotic avocado or toxic empenada
We got akee, lassi, Somali waccy baccy
I'm sure back home you know what tikka's all about - what tikka's all about
Welcome stranger to the humble neighborhoods
You can get inspiration along the highroad
Hommus, cous cous in the jus of octopus
Pastrami and salami and lasagne on the go
Welcome stranger, there's no danger
Welcome to this humble neighborhood
There's Balti, Bhindi, strictly HindiDall, Halal and I'm walking down the road
Rocksoul, okra, bombay duck-ra
Shrimp beansprout, comes with it or without
So anyway, I told him I was in a band
He said, "Oh yeah, oh yeah - what's your music like?"
I said, "It's um, um, well, it's kinda like
You know, it's got a bit of, um, you know."
Ragga, Bhangra, two-step Tanga
Mini-cab radio, music on the go
Um, surfbeat, backbeat, frontbeat, backseat
There's a bunch of players and they're really letting go
We got, Brit pop, hip hop, rockabilly, Lindy hop
Gaelic heavy metal fans fighting in the road
Ah, Sunday boozers for chewing gum users
They got a crazy D.J. and she's really letting go
Oh, welcome stranger
Welcome stranger to the humble neighborhoods
Well, I say, there's plenty of places to eat round here
He say, "Oh yeah, I'm pretty choosy."
You gotBalti, Bhindi, strictly HindiDall, Halal, walking down the road
Rocksoul, okra, bombay duck-raShrimp beansprout, comes with it or without
Let's check it out
Welcome stranger to the humble neighborhoods, neighborhoods
Check out all thatPor-da-sol, por-da-sol
Walking down the highroad

Michael Tolliver lives!!

Armistead writes another love letter to San Francisco! How exciting!!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/11/DDGVKQBQGR1.DTL&hw=maupin&sn=005&sc=257

little beach

A couple of times now, I have taken Lulu out to a very tiny beach near my house. So few people go enjoy this little park. It's a shame, but it's nice to have the place largely to ourselves.

In penance for letting Lulu off-leash, I bring out a plastic grocery bag and fill it with trash I find on the sand, in the rip rap and seaweed. I hope for fascinating flotsam or jetsom worth keeping, but so far no big finds, just sea glass.

Now that Lulu is a swimmer, I had the wonderful experience this morning of tossing a piece of driftwood out into the gentle surf and watching her go eagerly out to get it. This dog is just divine.

All the walking I'm doing with her is also reaping good benefit too.

Swimming! Egret stalking!

Today Lulu finally made the leap from wading to full-on swimming as she went for a tennis ball in the canal at Point Isabel. So exciting. Oddly, none of the folks hanging around there were the least bit friendly about my excitement. I have really had a culture shock coming from the fabulously friendly Allston Park in Napa to the markedly reserved souls at Pt Isabel. I'd say about one in every 50 people actually returns my smile or 'good morning.' I seem to be breaking some protocol. Too bad, cheer up you East Bay people, relax and just say hello, it won't kill you. Maybe someday the attitudes at Point Isabel will match the setting and features, which are extaordinary and energizing.

Soon after Lulu started swimming, she spotted and gave big chase to an egret. An egret! Lulu was in heaven and I was a little worried she'd have such static in her brain due to bird lust that she'd follow the dang bird out into the ocean. Luckily she heard me and swam back, albeit quite reluctantly.

funny? sad? logo kerfuffle

A tempest in a teapot? You decide. The new, controversial logo for the 2012 London Olympics is gaining many critics.

More Lulu

bff

According to doggie day care, Lulu has a 'bff' (best friend forever) in Matilda, another all-black young energetic dog who started at Every Dog at about the same time as Lulu.
Very cute. This morning, the Every Dog staffer told Lulu,
"OK, Lulu, Matilda's already here and she's got your whole morning figured out for you, let's go!"

videos of Lulu

here is basic cuteness at Point Isabel with Lulu

here is Lulu enjoying the bay breeze in her face, doing a sit beautifully when asked too!

Lulu loves the water too

Weekend "make" projects from Make Magazine

this is a great one:

nice little video about Point Richmond

core doggie curriculum

My coworker Shawna sent this to me with a note - "Important lesson for Lulu. This is part of the core doggie curriculum; I just want to be sure she knows it."

So sweet! And funny.

more blather

Got Lulu and I all signed up for a six-week dog training class on Saturdays just up the road from Point Isabel, so hoping to meet some more nice dog people and make sure I'm doing all the right things for the pup.

People just warm to Lulu right away. Her vibe is so solid and mellow. She has a ton of young dog energy but it's not chaotic or spazzy. At doggie day care, they continue to give her stellar reports.

Susan is coming to stay with me this weekend, very excited for her to meet Lulu. Nice three-day weekend too. We chatted about going to a beach of some kind, and now I'm remembering that I should think up some beach that doesn't involve a lot of windy roads. Susan doesn't do so well with the windy roads and my driving.

Last night on a little walk near my flat, Lulu and I met Annette and her black lab mix dog, Angus along with another neighbor whose name I didn't get. She had a black dog also and said, "Welcome to the Point Richmond black dog club!" Annette turns out to live just around the corner from me. I was surprised at how reserved I was about chatting with them - there was a time I'd be telling a new person my whole life story and trying hard to get them to like me right away. Now, I seem to measure my energy and willingness to take on any new people. I'm the one who first says, ok, then, we have to go, nice to have met you. Is this a healthy thing or should I be more open? Do I have bad habits of protecting my space from when I was really depressed and not able to deal? Or is this just better maturity?

I have the feeling I need to just put this one in the God box and let the answers come as they will. In the meantime, it feels nice to have such friendly neighbors and yet also a little sad that I may be moving. If I could just wave my magic wand over housing prices in this area, that would fix it all.

Austin looks great, but moving house is a royal pain. I just got unpacked! I do really like my job though, and feel pretty sure that the only way to do it well is to be at HQ in Tejas. But again, no need to make any decisions today.

Through the dog training sign-up, I found a nifty new dog web site: Dog Star Daily. Check it out.

a lulu of a trek

So here is a bit more about this latest adventure:

Monday - got to work super early so that I could duck out at 3 pm and head up the highway. It was beautiful weather and an easy drive to lovely Weed. At a truck stop on Highway 5, I heard this hug truckload of cattle complaining about their quarters (and, probably, the heat). I was reminded about why I want to be vegetarian and am so sad when I fail. How come it seems so much easier for Alicia Silverstone, anyhow? Dang.

Tuesday - looked over a map of Oregon during breakfast and changed my route so that I could see all the scenery around Bend. I was lucky enough to have been a camper at Camp Tamarack every summer from age 8 to 15, usually for an entire month. The mountains and lakes were just spectacular. I am pretty sure that Oregon is so blase about all of its magnificent beauty that they don't see any need to put in places for motorists to pull over and take a photo. Because I sure did not see any.

Had lunch in Sisters, and then took a detour to Lake Creek Lodge to see if Velda was there. She wasn't, but I left one of my furperson cards for her. I was tempted to drive down the dirt road to Camp Tamarack too, but the drive was taking longer than I had planned.

Arrived to Big Table Farm at last and got to meet the adorable Lulu, who was still pretty much thinking of herself as "Shadow". So wiggly and sweet. She and Clementine played together, running up and down the big old hill. I met the llama, the goats, and Chief the horse. Brian had some friends over and they set up a table outside to enjoy some incredibly yummy homemade smoked salmon and duck prosciutto along with bread and garlicky pesto dip. Clare arrived soon from the airport and soon we were eating at, indeed, a Big Table. Again, more great food and interesting conversation over dinner. I was tuckered and crashed out early.


Wednesday - In the morning, I could hear all sorts of birds and critters making noises. What a cool way to wake up. Clare had made some delish smoothies for breakfast. Farm chores ensued (by others) and then there was some solid napping (by me). Clare, Chief and I went up to a horse training place just up the road from Big Table, where this great horse / rider therapist (I forget her name, but she was great) did a session with Clare and Chief. Totally intriguing.

In the afternoon, I loaded up the darling Lulu dog into the car and headed back down the road to Weed. She looked a bit anxious as we drove out the gravel roads, but by the time we got to Yamhill (just about 10 minutes), she had curled up in a ball in the back seat and was snoring away.

I just barely sneaked into the Medford dog park before the sun set. It seemed much, much longer to Weed than I would have expected. Dang, I thought, Oregon is a big old state.

Thursday - Get up early and hit the road toward home. Lulu had no accidents or issues with staying overnight at the hotel. She's already learned "wait" and doesn't jump out of the car until I say "ok", which is a huge safety thing I like to nail right away.

Stopped over at the lovely little dog park in Redding near the private airport. Noticed that Lulu's potty business was kind of runny. Realized with dismay that I had forgotten to take some of Lulu's old food with me to mix in with the new, and so had now committed the rookie error of giving the poor pup the runs. Ack ack. Slapping forehead.

Arrived to the Bay Area in the afternoon but headed straight to Point Isabel park. Lulu was great off leash and did lots of "come here" when I called. So thrilling to have a dog who acts like a dog and is eager to please. Gave her a bath at Mud Puppies, headed home. The whole 'runs' business had me sleeping in my clothes and walking Lulu around the block at 11 pm, 1 am, 3 am, 5 am, and 6 am.

Friday - Even though I was totally fried, I screwed up some energy and concentration so I could make a non-horrible first impression on my new VP. Luckily, he was totally down to earth and also an animal person. His wife has recently rescued some little kittens that have to be bottle fed. "So she has 'sucker' written on her forehead, too?" I asked. "Oh yeah," he said.

At 11 am, Lulu passed her temperament evaluation at Every Dog Has Its Daycare with flying colors. In fact, the women there just raved about what a great dog I'd gotten. I told them that, yes, I knew it! I didn't go into all the gory details about my former doggies, who didn't ask to become as damaged as they were.

Visited the glorious Gardner and introduced Skip to Lulu and visa versa. They hit it off right away. I napped on Gardner's couch for an hour while she watched a soap. (Thank God for friends that are this easy-going!)

Got our flea meds and heartworm test at the vet, along with some antibiotics just in case the diarrhea was caused by a bug of some sort.

Saturday - More big long walks at Point Isabel. Then headed over to Alameda, visited a cool doggie store on Park and got a glamorous pink polka-dot dog collar. Met Laura and Tom at the Alameda Dog Park and threw the ball a bit. Lulu doesn't quite get how to bring the ball all the way back to the thrower just yet. She seriously gets along with every dog she meets.

Sunday - introduced Lulu to India and again, it was big doggie love fest. Had breakfast and good conversation with Porter and Joseph. Later in the day, ridiculously thrilled about seeing a firm poopie come out of Lulu. Drove up to Napa to fetch the dog crate out of my storage unit. Visited Alston dog park but didn't see Trudy or any of the other friendly regulars, probably due to the time of day.

Set up the crate in the living room and put the bed in there - and instantly, Lulu settled right in and loved her new space.

I just can't believe how responsive and dear this little furry thing is! She's a true joy.

Everyone loves La Lulu!!

lulu-closeup-may-18-2007
Originally uploaded by pamplemousse2007.

Drove to Oregon to get the delightful, sweet Lulu this week. More detail later when some of my brain cells regenerate - Clare and Brian were awesome hosts, loved seeing their farm, and the weather and the scenery could not have been more magnificent.

Click on the
"lulu closeup" photo to see a few more shots from the trip and several more from today at Point Isabel in Richmond. Lulu loves the bay breezes and the wide open spaces!

i heart code monkey

I stumbled on this, which has now become my favorite song (of all time? maybe?) - looks like several someones (you can find more on YouTube) have created their own videos to the tune, probably with the blessing of the very web-savvy songwriter / singer Jonathan Coulton.

Interview with Coulton:



and if I weren't already converted, check this genius thing:
http://www.jonathancoulton.com/primer/flickr

how berkeley can you be?

Overheard at lunch at a little Chinese food place on Telegraph Avenue:

"I don't know why they would send the sarcophagus to her."

like the art, need a lower price?

Try a t-shirt!


create & buy custom products at Zazzle

great quote

"You can’t take the evil of slavery out of the world and abolish it without making the world more just. You will never prevent people living in bonded labor or from getting caught up in sex trafficking while they are so desperate that they have no other choice but to sell themselves. As long as we in the West crave ever more excess, we conspire in their desperation, exploiting it and make ourselves sick in the process."

- Clare Short, Member of British Parliament and former Secretary of State for International Development. She resigned from the latter post over the U.K.'s involvement in the Iraq War.

britain has its own version of the funny Mac ads!

http://juliezilla.blogspot.com/2007/04/i-love-apple.html